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President Donald Trump says his proposed 250-foot Washington arch will include facilities for drones, snipers and ammunition.
The announcement adds a military component to a project already facing legal challenges and scrutiny over its location and design.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that his proposed 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington, D.C., will also serve as what he described as a military complex, with facilities to store and deploy drones and accommodate military snipers. Trump said the change was made at the request of the U.S. military and was necessary for national security, but the Pentagon did not provide additional details beyond the president’s announcement.
The proposed structure is planned for Memorial Circle near Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial. At 250 feet, the arch would be more than twice the height of the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial and would include a large observation deck and a decorative design featuring a winged figure and golden eagles. Earlier plans presented the project primarily as a monument and tourist attraction.
Trump said the revised plans would allow the structure to store and rapidly deploy large numbers of drones, while also providing positions for snipers on the roof and plaza. He also said the facility would contain substantial quantities of sniper ammunition. The president did not publicly provide details about how the military facilities would be incorporated into the previously released architectural plans or what specific military operations would take place there.
The announcement comes as the arch project faces opposition from veterans, historic preservation groups and others concerned about its impact on the area surrounding Arlington National Cemetery and other major national landmarks. A federal judge has ordered the administration to provide advance notice before undertaking activity at the proposed site, while legal challenges question whether congressional authorization is required for the project.
The project has also undergone federal reviews. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts previously gave preliminary approval, while additional reviews remained part of the process. The administration has said it intends to obtain the necessary approvals before construction begins. The addition of military facilities could require further consideration of the structure’s design and security arrangements, although federal agencies had not publicly outlined such changes as of Sunday.
The proposed arch is part of a broader series of construction and renovation projects pursued by Trump during his second term to alter prominent sites in Washington. The president has similarly cited national security considerations in discussions surrounding a planned White House ballroom, making the security rationale for the arch another issue in the legal and political debate over the administration’s building projects.
Sources: NPR, The Associated Press, BBC, Al Jazeera, The New York Times and The Washington Post